Middle East

Flag of Jordan

Jordan is a small Arab kingdom in the heart of the Middle East, home to Petra — the ancient Nabataean city carved into rose-red sandstone cliffs — one of the world's most spectacular archaeological sites and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The Dead Sea on Jordan's western border is the lowest point on Earth's surface at 430 metres below sea level, and its hypersaline waters allow bathers to float effortlessly. Jordan has been a relatively stable centre in a volatile region and hosts millions of refugees.

CapitalAmman
RegionMiddle East
Current flag since1928
Main coloursBlack, White, Green, Red
Populationabout 11 million
Areaabout 89,000 km²
Flags in history4

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of Jordan means

Based on the flag of the Arab Revolt of 1916 against Ottoman rule, its three stripes recall the Abbasid (black), Umayyad (white) and Fatimid (green) caliphates, and the red triangle the Hashemite dynasty. The seven-pointed star stands for the seven verses of the Al-Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Quran, and for the unity of the Arab peoples.

How to recognise it

Horizontal black-white-green with a red triangle at the hoist containing a white seven-pointed star.

Did you know?

Jordan is home to Petra, the ancient rose-red city carved into rock, one of the New Seven Wonders.

Easily confused with

Jordan's flag is often mixed up with these. Learn to tell them apart:

Palestine

United Arab Emirates

Sudan

Flag history of Jordan

Every flag that has flown over Jordan, from today back through time.

1928–present

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Jordan's flag — horizontal black-white-green stripes (pan-Arab colours) with a red triangle at the hoist bearing a white seven-pointed star — descends directly from the Arab Revolt flag of 1916. The seven points of the star represent the seven verses of the opening sura of the Quran, the seven hills of Amman, and the seven virtues of faith, justice, humility, national spirit, virtue, social welfare, and aspirations. Jordan's flag design has been essentially unchanged since 1928, though the territory has changed dramatically.

1920–1928

Emirate of Transjordan

After World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Britain created the Emirate of Transjordan under Emir Abdullah I of the Hashemite family. The early flag was a direct variant of the Arab Revolt banner — the same black-white-green horizontal stripes with a red triangle. The white star was added in 1928 to distinguish Jordan's flag from that of Palestine, which at the time shared virtually identical colouring under the British Mandate.

1916–1920

Arab Revolt (Sharif Hussein)

The Arab Revolt of 1916 — when Sharif Hussein of Mecca rose against the Ottoman Empire with British support — produced one of the most influential flags in Middle Eastern history. Hussein's banner used black-white-green horizontal stripes (representing the Abbasid, Umayyad, and Fatimid caliphates respectively) with a red triangle for the Hashemite family. The Palestinian, Jordanian, Sudanese, Kuwaiti, and several other Arab flags all descend from this single revolutionary design.

1516–1916

Ottoman era

The territory east of the Jordan River was an Ottoman possession for four centuries, administered from Damascus and flying the Ottoman star-and-crescent. It was a sparsely populated frontier of desert and Bedouin tribes along the route of the Hejaz Railway. When the Arab Revolt swept north in 1916–18, the Hashemites took control, and the land became Transjordan — the territory east of the Jordan that Britain assigned to Emir Abdullah after the war.

Related historical states

Empires, kingdoms and republics that once covered part of Jordan.

1921–1946

Emirate of Transjordan

Black-white-green bands with a red chevron and a white seven-pointed star for the seven verses of Al-Fatiha — the direct precursor of the modern flag of Jordan.

1958

Arab Federation

A short-lived union of the Hashemite kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan, formed as a counterweight to the Egypt-Syria union and dissolved within months when a coup overthrew Iraq's monarchy.